1972 VFA season

1972 VFA Premiership Season
Teams 20
Division 1
Teams 10
Premiers Oakleigh
(6th premiership)
Minor premiers Oakleigh
(4th minor premiership)
Division 2
Teams 10
Premiers Geelong West
(3rd D2 premiership)
Minor premiers Geelong West
(1st D2 minor premiership)
1971
1973

The 1972 Victorian Football Association season was the 91st season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the twelfth season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Oakleigh Football Club, after it defeated Dandenong in the Grand Final on 24 September by 44 points; it was Oakleigh's sixth and final Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Geelong West, which went undefeated through the season with an overall record of 20–0, becoming the first team since North Melbourne in 1918 to complete a perfect season; overall, it was the club's third Division 2 premiership.

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.

Ladder

1972 VFA Division 1 Ladder
TEAM P W L D PF PA Pct PTS
1 Oakleigh (P) 18 13 5 0 2315 1942 119.2 52
2 Dandenong 18 11 6 1 2039 1963 103.8 46
3 Williamstown 18 11 7 0 2022 1821 111.0 44
4 Preston 18 11 7 0 2050 1929 106.2 44
5 Port Melbourne 18 10 7 1 2076 1902 109.1 42
6 Sunshine 18 8 10 0 2051 1969 104.2 32
7 Sandringham 18 8 10 0 1941 2043 95.0 32
8 Coburg 18 6 12 0 1895 2082 91.0 24
9 Prahran 18 6 12 0 1849 2134 86.6 24
10 Waverley 18 5 13 0 1764 2217 79.5 20
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[1]

Finals

Semi Finals
Sunday, 3 September Williamstown 22.19 (151) def. Preston 19.17 (131) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 15,000) [2]
Sunday, 10 September Oakleigh 27.15 (177) def. Dandenong 16.19 (115) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 13,000) [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 17 September Dandenong 22.14 (146) def. Williamstown 11.16 (82) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 10,000) [4]
1972 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 24 September Oakleigh def. Dandenong St Kilda Cricket Ground (Crowd: 22,400) [5]
4.6 (30)
11.12 (78)
15.13 (103)
25.17 (167)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
2.6 (18)
8.8 (56)
13.14 (92)
18.15 (123)
Umpires: Hayes
Murnane 7, Johnson 5, Taylor 4, Barrot 2, Carr 2, J. Lilley 2, Colcott, Ford, Robbins Goals Miller 9, Flaherty 4, Hibbert 2, Davies, Ellis, Shinners
Wenn, for striking Miller in the first quarter
West, for striking Miller in the first quarter
West, for striking Ellis in the third quarter
Reports Miller, for striking Wenn in the first quarter

Awards

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at Toorak Park.

Ladder

1972 VFA Division 2 Ladder
TEAM P W L D PF PA Pct PTS
1 Geelong West (P) 18 18 0 0 2696 1517 177.7 72
2 Caulfield 18 15 3 0 2377 1694 140.3 60
3 Brunswick 18 11 7 0 1940 1938 100.1 44
4 Yarraville 18 9 8 1 2087 1989 104.9 38
5 Northcote 18 9 9 0 1846 1973 93.5 36
6 Camberwell 18 7 11 0 2081 2197 94.7 36
7 Box Hill 18 6 12 0 1969 2099 93.8 24
8 Mordialloc 18 6 12 0 1547 2371 65.2 24
9 Frankston 18 5 13 0 2018 2141 94.2 20
10 Werribee 18 3 14 1 1783 2425 73.5 12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[7]

Finals

Semi Finals
Sunday, 20 August Brunswick 14.19 (103) def. by Yarraville 15.16 (106) Toorak Park [8]
Sunday, 27 August Geelong West 17.18 (120) def. Caulfield 17.13 (115) Toorak Park (crowd: 9,000) [1]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 3 September Caulfield 31.23 (209) def. Yarraville 16.11 (107) Toorak Park (crowd: 5,000) [2]
1972 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 10 September Geelong West def. Caulfield Toorak Park (Crowd: 10,000) [3]
4.1 (25)
7.10 (52)
10.13 (73)
14.16 (100)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
2.5 (17)
3.5 (23)
13.7 (85)
14.10 (94)
Umpires: Torney
McLean 3, M. Browne 2, R. Browne 2, Harris 2, Colley, Gilles, Irvin, Linke, Manson Goals Williams 5, R. Brown 2, Guinane 2, Baker, Cliff, Hamblin, Hocking, Logan
Reports Renownden, for striking Manson in the first quarter
Hocking, for striking Deeath in the second quarter

Awards

Notable events

Geelong West's perfect season

Geelong West won all twenty games it played during the 1972 season, becoming the third team to complete a perfect season in Association history. It was the first time the feat had been achieved since North Melbourne in 1918, and the last time it was achieved until Port Melbourne in 2011. Geelong West entered the season after being relegated from Division 1 at the end of 1971, although it was not disgraced during that season, as its win-loss record of 6–12 was at the time the best ever for a wooden-spooner.[12] Geelong West's Thirds team was also unbeaten during the 1972 season.[13]

Geelong West's unbeaten record hides the fact that it was very evenly matched with runners-up Caulfield; three of Geelong West's four wins against Caulfield, including both finals, were by a goal or less:

Lightning premiership

In 1972, the Association established a post-season lightning premiership, contested by the twelve teams which did not reach the finals (six from each division). Matches were played as curtain-raisers to senior finals matches on Sundays, and were played at half the length of a normal match over two periods of play. The format of the competition was knock-out, and was arranged such that the Division 1 teams competed separately to the Division 2 teams up to the semi-final stage; then, the semi-final stage was contested by three Division 1 teams and one Division 2 team. The post-season lightning premiership was contested from 1972 until 1979.[17]

Other notable events

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Geoffrey Fithall (28 August 1972). "And Port Melbourne misses 'four'". The Age (Melbourne). p. 21.
  2. 1 2 3 Geoffrey Fithall (4 September 1972). "Seagulls take sting out of Preston". The Age (Melbourne). p. 17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Geoffrey Fithall (11 September 1972). "Oakleigh beats Dandenong by 62 points". The Age (Melbourne). p. 22.
  4. 1 2 Geoffrey Fithall (18 September 1972). "Seagulls not in the race". The Age (Melbourne). p. 25.
  5. 1 2 Geoffrey Fithall (25 September 1972), "'Big Bob' retires as player", The Age (Melbourne), p. 25
  6. 1 2 Jim Robb (31 August 1972). "Sunshine captain shock Liston winner". The Age (Melbourne). p. 25.
  7. Geoffrey Fithall (14 August 1972). "10 reports: umpires get tough". The Age (Melbourne). p. 23.
  8. 1 2 Geoffrey Fithall (21 August 1972). "Loss keeps Port out of four once more". The Age (Melbourne). p. 17.
  9. Geoffrey Fithall (12 August 1972). "All eyes on Geelong West clash". The Age (Melbourne). p. 28.
  10. "Award to Brunswick". The Age (Melbourne). 17 August 1972. p. 28.
  11. Stephen Phillips (11 September 1972). "Record kicked in semi". The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne). p. 50.
  12. Terry O'Halloran (30 August 1971). "Roosters win, but relegated". The Age (Melbourne). p. 21.
  13. ""Recruit" wins it for West". Geelong Advertiser (Melbourne). 12 June 1972. p. 12.
  14. "Caulfield go down by four". Southern Cross (Caulfield, VIC). 14 June 1972. p. 27.
  15. "Quarter fightback gives West a double". Geelong Advertiser (Melbourne). 11 September 1972. p. 12.
  16. "West sneaks into final". Geelong Advertiser (Geelong, VIC). 28 August 1972. p. 12.
  17. David Eastman (2013). "VFA – non-premiership matches". Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  18. "Zunneberg quits Lions to play with Preston". The Age (Melbourne). 21 April 1972. p. 26.
  19. Geoffrey Fithall (1 July 1972). "Still hope for Port". The Age (Melbourne). p. 27.
  20. Stephen Phillips (12 July 1972). "Player outed until 1974...". The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne). p. 80.
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